Psalms 66:3
Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
Study Note
Study Note
The call to 'say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works; through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee' opens Psalm 66's summons to universal worship with the theme of divine power over enemies — 'submit' (kachash, literally 'feign submission' or 'cringe') suggesting that the homage of enemies is compelled rather than freely offered. The 'terrible works' (nora ma'asecha) grounds the call to praise in specific divine acts, paralleled in verses 5–7 with the Exodus sea-crossing, establishing that the universal summons to worship is rooted in historically specific covenantal action. The psalm's movement from cosmopolitan hymn (vv. 1–7) to individual testimony (vv. 13–20) models the relationship between universal praise and particular covenant experience in Israelite worship. Paul's citation of Isaiah 45:23 ('every knee shall bow') in Philippians 2:10–11 develops the same pattern: universal acknowledgment of divine sovereignty, here applied to Christ.
Other Translations
Say unto God, How terrible are thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
Say to God, `How fearful <FI>are<Fi> Thy works, By the abundance of Thy strength, Thine enemies feign obedience to Thee.
Say to God, How greatly to be feared are your works! because of your great power your haters are forced to put themselves under your feet.
Cross References
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto …
Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a …
And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath …
Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and …
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall …